Proposal to tighten hacking sentences, store data

A government commissioned study is recommending that legal penalties for hacking be increased, and the storage by ISPs of their customers’ online activities.

The report calls for the introduction of a crime of “aggravated computer intrusion” and an increase in the maximum prison sentence from two years to six.

“Society is so dependent on computer systems today,” Prosecutor Nils Rekke, who led the study, tells Swedish Radio News. “Much more is at stake”.

More controversially, the report also recommends that Internet service providers be required to save a record of their customers activities, to help in criminal investigations. Companies that offer encryption services would also be required to help investigating police.

“This has made it difficult for the police to carry out their investigations,” Rekke says. “What we want is to require the owners of server farms to actually cooperate and reveal how to access this information.”